The present invention generally pertains to the art of drain cleaning apparatus and more particularly to improvements in directing and feeding the drain cleaning cable snake into a drain or waste line to be cleaned.
The present invention pertains to improvements in portable-motor driven flexible snake drain cleaning apparatus of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,901,401 and 6,009,588. These inventions respectively pertain to a feed control arrangement for axially advancing and retracting the cable snake during use of the apparatus and to a flexible guide tube to facilitate an operator in guiding the outlet end of the snake into a drain to be cleaned. The guide tube arrangement for the snake has its inner end directly supported on the frame which supports the machine.
The drain cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes a frame with a cable snake drum supported on the frame for rotation about a drum axis, wherein the drum has axially spaced front and rear ends and an opening through the front end. A drain cleaning cable snake is coiled in the drum about the drum axis and has an outer end for extending through the opening of the drum into a drain to be cleaned. A drive motor is also supported on the frame for rotating the drum and the cable snake contained therein.
A guide tube is provided for receiving the outer end of the cable snake and the inner end of this guide tube is supported directly on the cable drum itself, as opposed to being independently supported on the frame as taught by the prior art, with a bearing for relative rotation between the cable drum and the guide tube, thereby eliminating the need of an independent frame support for the guide tube which adds additional expense.
The guide tube is flexible between its inner and outer ends for directing the outer end toward a drain to be cleaned and a manually operable cable feed device is provided on the outer end of the guide tube for selectively axially displacing the cable snake relative to the cable drum during rotation of the drum and cable snake about the drum axis.
Improvements are also provided in the cable feed device which includes a housing having an housing axis and a passage axially therethrough for receiving the cable snake. A cable roll drive is supported in the housing in the same fashion and with the same type construction as provided in the prior art for advancing and retracting the rotating cable snake during use of the apparatus.
A drive actuator is supported on the housing for radially displacing the cable snake against the cable roll drive. This drive actuator has radially inner and outer ends and a lever is pivotally mounted on the housing for engaging the outer end and radially displacing the drive actuator against the cable snake.
A stop protrudes from the housing and is positioned for engaging this lever to thereby limit the pivotal extent of its displacement away from the housing for thereby preventing accidental dislodgement of the drive actuator from the housing. However, this stop is yieldable for thereby permitting the lever to be pivotally displaced with applied force away from the housing beyond this limited extent against the yieldable bias of the stop. This permits the drive actuator to be sufficiently radially displaced to permit the passage of an enlarged portion of the cable snake through the housing passage and past the roll drive, and if desired, also permits sufficient clearance to fully remove the drive actuator from the housing for replacement or repair.
The protruding stop may be rendered yieldable by constructing it of yielding material such as spring steel or in the alternative it may be provided in the form of a rigid lever which is spring biased. In one embodiment, this stop lever may include an access cover plate pivotally secured on the housing for providing access to the roll drive.